Escape the Night: Recovery Time
by Dede42
Summary: After the lost of another friend, the YouTubers decide to take a break in order to recover and cope with the situation that they're trapped in.


Escape the Night: Recovery Time

A/N: Hello, world and welcome back to _Escape the Night!_

Sorry for the delay between updates, but I was busy with work. Now to see how the group is coping with the death of Liza. Onward!

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

**ONE-SHOT: RECOVERY TIME**

The group in the lounge were in a state of shock over the death of Liza just a few minutes ago. They'd tried to go against the rules of the game with the hope of outwitting the Sorceress, and just when it looked like they were successful when both Tyler and Liza had both come back from the final death challenge against the Gingerbread Woman, the Sorceress had shown up.

Now Liza was dead because of their decision to break the rules, and they were all going to have to live with the consequences of trying to one-up the Sorceress.

* * *

"Guys," said Tyler, standing up and he was looking _very _greenish. "I – I'm not feeling too well – so if you'll excuse me-" And he bolted out of the lounge and down the hallway toward the bathroom, clutching his stomach.

The group was at first worried that Tyler had been poisoned, but then they realized that he was probably feeling sick from all the sweets he'd and Liza probably had to eat for the final death challenge earlier.

"I'll go check on him," said Andrea, also standing up and headed out of the lounge for the bathroom.

"We should all take ten minutes to recover," Joey suggested and Alison promised to let them know when it was time to get back to finding the next gem.

"Good idea, Joey," Dawn agreed and she wasn't looking to well herself. "I don't feel too good either."

Joey felt her forehead and was alarmed to find that it was warm. "Oh God, Alex, help me lie her down on the couch," he said, and they both helped the brunette lie back on the couch so that her head was resting on his lap. "Donny, Donny, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Dawn mumbled, looking pale and Alex hurried to get her some water. "Just had too much sugar in one go."

"Here." Alex came back and helped her sip some of the water in a glass. "I think you're a bit dehydrated, Donny."

* * *

While they were looking after the brunette, Artie pulled Ernie out of the lounge. "You and I should go look for Liza's body and find a better place to store it before Joey and Dawn stumble across it when it's time to look for the next gem," he suggested, glancing back at their friends.

"Good idea," Ernie agreed. "They're already going through hell as it is with those who died last year, and the deaths of Lauren, Jesse, DeStorm, and now Liza aren't helping matters in the slightest." And they went down the hallway, waving to Andrea, who was standing outside the bathroom door, and they did their best not wince at the sound of Tyler being violently sick inside the bathroom.

* * *

Back in the lounge, Gabbie pulled Tana into one of the corners to talk while Alison left and came back with a tray of cups with something steaming inside. She set it on the bar and picked up two of the cups, carrying them over to the girls with instructions to drink the contents to regain their strength, and then she took three cups over to Alex, Dawn, and Joey.

"What's that?" Dawn asked, gingerly sitting up, eying the steaming cups.

"An herbal tea that will help restore your strength," Alison replied, handing each of them a cup. "It'll help." And she walked away before they could react.

They exchanged uncertain looks, but so far Alison had been helping them, so it was unlikely that she was going to poison them after everything that'd happen, and they all cautiously sipped the tea at the same time.

Alex, Joey, and Dawn all coughed at the strong taste, and they all laughed a little.

"Ok," Dawn coughed. "That – that's _strong_ tea."

"It certainly is," Alex agreed. "I'm not big on tea, but – _wow!_"

"Definitely wow," Joey agreed.

* * *

While all of this was going on, Tyler was still worshipping the porcelain altar, and he was certain that he was going to die once he was done throwing up. He also couldn't shake the guilt of failing to save Liza, or even Sampson for that matter. They both died _just_ because he was tired of playing by the Sorceress' rules.

'_I'm starting to understand what Joey and Dawn went through last year,'_ Tyler thought when he found himself doing only dry heaving, and he knew that he was done. He pushed himself away from the toilet and leaned against the nearest wall while grabbing a wash cloth to wipe his mouth clean. Somehow, during all of that, he'd failed to mess up his clothing, not that he really cared anymore.

A knock on the door startled him and he sighed with relief when Andrea stuck her head inside. "Oh…hey."

"Hey." Andrea entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and grabbed another cloth, which she soaked in a bowl full of water before sitting down next to him, and she began helping him clean his face, which was pale. "Feeling better?" she asked, having been listening through the door for the past few minutes.

Tyler shook his head. "No…and I don't think I _ever_ will after tonight," he confessed. "If I hadn't suggested we break the rules, then both Liza and Sampson would still be alive."

"You don't know that for sure," Andrea pointed out.

"But I _do_," Tyler insisted. "If I hadn't insisted that we change the rules, make it clear to the Sorceress that we weren't going to be her pawns, then Dawn and Joey wouldn't have encouraged Liza and I to make the leap." He then began breaking down emotionally.

Putting down the cloth, Andrea pulled him into a hug, letting him cry into her shoulder, and not caring if he soaked her outfit. She also started to let the tears fall, but she did so silently. They were all suffering tonight, and there was nothing they could do about it except to find the remaining gems before sunrise.

* * *

Arie and Ernie crept into the foyer, looking around cautiously since they didn't know where the vampires were, and they rather not get jumped by one of the Sorceress' many lieutenants and be used as bait in some kind of trap.

"No one around," Ernie whispered to his twin, "let's go." And they hurried toward the back of the foyer to gain access to the backyard. They didn't get very far when they came across the body of Liza, and they both skidded to a stop, staring at their fallen friend, who had been a source of light and joy for all of them.

Liza's once cheerful face was frozen in an expression of terror, and the kerchief around her throat was stained with the blood from the wound in her neck. Both twins felt ill with grief, but they had a job to do, and they were going to do it right. There was _no way_ that they were going to let their friend rot on the floor of this damned place.

Crouching down, Artie gently closed her eyes with his fingers, so that she looked more peaceful, and then he and Ernie lifted her up together. They carried her up the stairs to the second floor, and into what was clearly a bedroom.

Letting Artie hold their friend's body, Ernie went to the bed and folded down the thick blankets. He and his twin then laid Liza down on the bed and covered her with the blankets so that no one could see the gash in her neck or the blood. For anyone who peered in, they would think she was sleeping, and that was fine for the twins.

"There, I think that's the best we can do," Artie remarked and his twin nodded. "Sleep well, Liza, you no longer have to suffer."

"Bye, Liza."

The twins exited the bedroom together, shutting and locking the door behind them with a key that was already in the lock, and they headed back downstairs to rejoin the other survivors.

* * *

Meanwhile in the lounge, Alex glanced at Joey and Dawn, noting that they had fallen asleep with Dawn's head in Joey's lap once again, and Joey had one arm draped over her shoulders, like he was trying to protect her from the Sorceress' evil.

'_Neither of them should be going through this again,'_ he thought, putting down his empty cup next to the other two cups, and he stood up. He looked around the room, over to the corner where Gabbie and Tana were still talking quietly, and then to the other corner, where Andrea and Tyler were sitting and talking quietly after the trip to the bathroom while sipping the tea provided by Alison._ 'None of us should be going through this. Especially not Joey and Dawn, this could break us all.'_

Alex turned to the door as Artie and Ernie entered, accepting the two remaining cups of tea from Alison, and when they went to talk with the others, he took a deep breath and went to talk to Alison about something that'd been eating at him. He needed to know, even if it tore open the wounds of losing Lauren all over again. "Alison?"

Alison looked at him. "Yes?"

"I – I – I shouldn't even be asking this, but did – do you think Lauren suffered when the other vampires fed on her?" he asked finally, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

Alison stared at him for a moment and then took his hands into her own. "Alex, listen to me," she said in a tone that was empathic. "Before I got DeStorm out of the ballroom, I did see Louise, he was the vampire that captured Lauren in the green room when you were looking for the salt, and I suspected that he would've laid claim to her. Now, I know for a fact that when one of my kind captures someone that they've laid claim to, and know that they need to share that victim with the other members of the nest, then he more then likely compelled Lauren to fall into a deep sleep. So, no, Lauren didn't suffer when they took turns feeding on her, and if anything, she never felt a thing."

"You're sure about that?" Alex asked, his voice was slightly choked, and when she nodded. "Ok, that – that's good to know."

Alison surprised him by hugging him and letting him sob into her shoulder. "Ssh, let it out," she advised, helping him back to the other couch to get him to sit down. "Let it out, and grow stronger from this. Your friends still need you."

Alex nodded and, after he was done crying, laid back against the couch, feeling exhausted, and it wasn't long before he was fast asleep.

Alison collected the remaining cups and took them to the tray before she looked around the room at the surviving YouTubers. They were all sleeping in whatever spot they had been when the sedative in the tea had taken affect. She hadn't wanted to drug them, but after all that they've been through, she knew that they needed to rest up for whatever they would have to face next to get the remaining gems.

It wasn't a very powerful sedative, but when they would wake up in a little bit, they would feel more rested and ready for the next challenge. She'd also had added a little bit of her own blood to the tea in order to help with the physical healing process, especially to restore some life to Joey after being a blood bank to her father and the other members of the nest.

'_I told Joey the truth when I said I never fed on him,'_ Alison thought, picking up the tray._ 'During the periods when he was unconscious, I infused some of my blood into his system to keep him alive, and yet, if I told him that, he would lose what little trust I've managed to gain from him.'_

* * *

_Alison sneaks into the ballroom after the other vampires leave and she goes over to Joey, who is chained to an x-pole, barely aware of what is going on around him, and she climbs onto the platform next to him. She knows that her father and the other members of the nest has been feeding on him again by way of the machine, and at the rate this is going, she knows that he will probably die before his friends would come._

'_If Joey dies before that happens,' Alison thinks as she extracts a syringe from her coat, 'the Sorceress will slaughter us all.' She inserts the needle into a vein in her arm and draws some of her own blood. "Joey," she whispers in a soothing voice, and his eyes flutter a little to indicate that he could hear her, "Joey, listen to my voice and _sleep_.'_

_Alison gently strokes his face until he sighs quietly and falls into a deep sleep. "Sleep, sleep deeply and peacefully. Sleep and _heal_." Once she is sure that he is fully under the spell, she inserts the syringe into his neck, and she injects her blood into his system. Moments later, Joey's face is less pale. "I'll come back when I can to help you some more," she promises and slips out of the ballroom._

* * *

Unknown to them all, the Sorceress was spying on them through the crystal ball that she'd forced Joey to look into in order to learn about his friends and the identity of the Light-bearer.

'_She has _no_ idea of how to use the Light inside her,'_ she thought smugly, watching the sleeping forms of the group, especially Joey and Dawn._ 'And before this night is over, she never _will_!'_ She'd come close to fulfilling her plan a century ago, but the Society Against Evil had managed to stop her, and now she was using the group to regain what had been taken from her.

'_They have _no idea_ that they are doing the work of retrieving the gems for _me_,'_ the Sorceress thought._ 'And once the gems are back in the crown, I will take over the _world_!'_

* * *

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

* * *

A/N: Coping with the death of someone you care about is never easy, and I will see you all on Friday with the next update. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


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